Cabin temperature, fan speed and heated and cooled front seats are all controlled by just two dials: one for the driver, the other for the passenger. In a finger ballet that’s nearly impossible without taking your eyes off the road, you adjust temperature by rotating the dial; fan by pushing the dial in a fraction of an inch and rotating; and seat temperature by pulling the dial out that same smidgeon and rotating. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press

Note from auto critic Mark Phelan: After this review posted, Jaguar reported Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be standard on all I-Paces when public sales begin. Assuming the systems are properly executed, they should reduce problems with smart phones and some infotainment features.

If you consider the I-Pace, I advise testing the systems, and climate controls extensively during your test drive.

Transcript of a hands-free phone call while testing a vehicle:

Me: Paul? You free?

A: I have a minute before a conference call.

M: I want to check what you think of the Jaguar I-Pace. I’m driving one, and I hate it so much I want to crash it into a wall.

A: What? I loved that vehicle. I’ll call you back in half an hour.

Paul is Paul Eisenstein, auto writer and a peer whose opinions I respect, but don’t always share. The kind of person to call when you’re thinking about aiming an $86,000 electric luxury vehicle at a bridge abutment rather than spend another minute trying to adjust the air conditioning fan speed.

Conversations like this are the bane of automakers, as they try to reinvent themselves with electric vehicles, self-driving robot cars, vehicles on demand and other new challenges. Some of them behave as if it’s unfair to expect them to create new types of vehicles and simultaneously deliver features we take for granted in today’s cars and SUVs.

The ★★ 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, the brand’s first electric vehicle — if you don’t count one-offs built for royal weddings and the like — is a perfect, and occasionally maddening, example. It's an accomplished electric vehicle that’s barely average among luxury SUVs due to faults that have nothing to do with the innovative zero-emissions drivetrain at its heart.

Eisenstein never called back, by the way. That’s Paul, but he had given me what I needed: A reminder that an early-adopting tech fan might love a vehicle that reduced me to sputtering obscenities when I tried to make a simple phone call.

Storage is at a premium in the I-Pace's front trunk.(Photo: Mark Phelan/Detroit Free Press)

How much?

The I-Pace uses a brand new architecture Jaguar Land Rover developed for its upcoming electric vehicles. Sales just began around the world. The first deliveries to U.S. customers are expected in November.

All I-Paces have two electric motors for all-wheel drive, one on each axle. They produce 396 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque. The five-passenger I-Pace is a compact SUV.

If you’re determined to buy an electric luxury SUV, there’s not much competition for the I-Pace. The Tesla X is more than a foot longer and costs significantly more when comparably equipped. The Audi E-tron SUV won’t be on sale til the second quarter of 2019 and is 8.7 inches longer. The other announced luxury electric SUV, the Mercedes EQC, isn’t due til 2020.

If you want a conventionally powered but otherwise technically advanced and luxury-sport SUV, you have an embarrassment of choices.

Competitive base prices

(Excluding destination charges)

(Automatic transmission, all-wheel drive models.)

Jaguar I-Pace First Edition: $85,900

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio: $79,995

BMW X3 M40i: $54,650

Porsche Macan turbo: $77,200

Tesla X 100D: $96,000

Source: Autotrader

Power and range

The I-Pace’s electric drivetrain delivers impressive performance. Acceleration is head-snapping with a claimed 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds, despite the I-Pace’s 4,857-pound curb weight. That’s several hundred pounds more than non-electric SUVs, but 600 pounds lighter than the bigger Tesla X.

The I-Pace’s weight is distributed 50/50 over the front and rear axles. There’s a marked tendency to squat back on its haunches in hard acceleration, despite an air suspension.

Regenerative braking captures power as soon as you release the accelerator, rendering normal braking unnecessary in many cases. The brakes feel more conventional in dynamic mode.

The official U.S. government fuel economy site doesn’t list range or charging time for the I-Pace at this writing. That has to change before deliveries begin, so check here for the official ratings.

Until they’re available, Jag predicts a 234-mile range on a charge and 12.9 hours for a full charge at 230 volts. And 10.1 hours should get you an 80 percent charge of the 90 kWh lithium-ion battery.

The downside

If all the new technology works well, why was I like a lemming looking for a cliff? Because of flaws in a slew of features Jaguar should have mastered by now.

The I-Pace joins automakers’ long list of regrettable attempts to reinvent controls that were already just fine. Cabin temperature, fan speed and heated and cooled front seats are all controlled by just two dials: one for the driver, the other for the passenger. In a finger ballet that’s nearly impossible without taking your eyes off the road, you adjust temperature by rotating the dial; fan by pulling the dial out a fraction of an inch and rotating; and seat temperature by pushing the dial in that same smidgeon and rotating.

Buy Photo

Cabin temperature, fan speed and heated and cooled front seats are all controlled by just two dials: one for the driver, the other for the passenger. In a finger ballet that’s nearly impossible without taking your eyes off the road, you adjust temperature by rotating the dial; fan by pushing the dial in a fraction of an inch and rotating; and seat temperature by pulling the dial out that same smidgeon and rotating.(Photo: Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press)

If it sounds confusing, try doing it at 60 mph without looking. It’s an unnecessary test of fine motor control when a few simple dials and buttons would suffice.

In addition, Jaguar wants smartphone users — isn’t that everybody? — to download a balky app called In Control rather than offering the polished Apple CarPlay or Android Auto interfaces.

The voice recognition also functions poorly.

Other vehicles — simpler ones that don’t claim to be tech showcases — deliver those features better. The I-Pace’s poor execution undermines the things it does well.

Specifications as tested

Engine: Two electric motors, one on each axle.

Power: 396 horsepower; 512 pound-feet of torque

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Wheelbase: 117.7 inches

Length: 184.3 inches

Width: 79.1 inches

Curb Weight: 4,857 pound-feet

Buy Photo

The Jaguar I-Pace First Edition's interior is trimmed in leather and wood.(Photo: Mark Phelan/Detroit Free Press)

It sure is pretty, though

The I-Pace has a long, low profile and low roof for a sporty look that’s new, but consistent with other Jaguars. Gaping wheel wells are filled by big, low-profile tires.

Surprisingly, given that there’s no engine that needs cooling under the hood, the I-Pace has a big grille for a nose that’ll look familiar to the brand’s fans. Tesla, by contrast, chose grille-free noses for a unique face.

The interior is wrapped in high-quality materials. The low roof and small door openings make the I-Pace harder to enter and exit than other SUVs its size.

Verdict

Do you want a flawed but promising electric luxury SUV or a polished luxury SUV? How high is your threshold of frustration with poorly executed controls?

As with me and my friend Paul, the answer to those questions will determine whether the I-Pace is for you.